PFG farmer/rancher victims face filing deadline

Farmers, ranchers and agricultural cooperatives planning to file claims with the CME Group’s Family Farmer and Rancher Protection Fund in the wake of the Peregrine Financial Group (PFG) bankruptcy must do so by 5:00 PM CST on Oct. 5 according to reminder sent out by the National Introducing Brokers Association (NIBA). To be eligible for these claims, claimants must:

Provide photocopies of tax forms proving that they received income from farming or ranching

Submit a PFG statement showing that they held one or more positions in certain CME agriculture futures products between Jan. 9 and July 6, 2012. A full list of eligible products is available on CME’s website.

CME Group established the $100 million fund in April 2012 to help protect the customer segregated funds of farmers and ranchers who use its markets to hedge their livestock and crops. Eligible farmers and ranchers can receive up to $25,000 each if a clearing member or other market participant becomes insolvent (agricultural cooperatives can receive up to $100,000.) If losses total more than $100 million, qualifying claimants would be eligible for a pro-rata share of the fund up to $100 million.

According to CME Group, claimants who file by Friday’s deadline will receive benefits in the fourth quarter of this year.